Chances are if you’re reading this article you already know about Floyd Mayweather’s latest legal drama. He’s been accused of giving a faulty check for a watch that cost a fortune. Now it appears the legendary fighter may go to trial. On the surface of things, of course it all seems very odd. “Given Mayweather’s reported wealth,” writes the LA Times’ Steve Henson, “bouncing a check might seem perplexing. He is considered the richest boxer of all time, with roughly $1.1 billion in career earnings and an estimated net worth of $400 million.”
Mayweather’s potential (“potential” being the operative word here) fall from financial grace doesn’t represent the first time a star fighter has been in financial trouble after earning a fortune. John l. Sullivan, whose last fight was in the early 1890s, claimed he sobered up after realizing he had spent over $100,000 recklessly. That’s a lot of money today. One can only imagine how much it was worth back then. Then of course there was former heavyweight champ Jack Dempsey’s legal issues – which essentially led to him being broke before he opened his famous restaurant and bar in New York long after his retirement. Poor Joe Lewis ended up being a hotel greeter in Vegas, and Mike Tyson ended up owing a lot of money before he apparently got back on good financial straits.
Again, this sort of thing isn’t uncommon. It’s tragic no matter which way you look at it. People are inclined to roll their eyes and say that high spenders like Mayweather and the others deserve it, but let’s face it, boxers don’t tend to come from the most privilegeds backgrounds. Take Dempsey for instance: he literally lived as a hobo for a while before achieving greatness in the ring. There’s exceptions of course, but as a historic rule of thumb, boxers have never had the luxury of having honest brokers guide them with their money.
And that’s too bad.
Yet there are ways to deal with the temptation of being a spend thrift. A former legendary fighter once told me he’s able to keep financially stable by not buying that new sports car. If memory serves me correct, he also claimed that gambling, drinking, drugs, and promiscuity are also bad ways of dealing with one’s hard earned cash. Successful fighters need to learn when to hit the brakes, because the money won’t be coming in forever no matter how much money it is you’re talking about.
With all that in mind, it’s easy to sit on the sidelines and to shake our collective heads because people that earned more than we’ll ever know somehow mismanaged their savings. That, friens, is the height of irony. For someone who say earns six figures a year to criticize someone who’s earned over 100 million in the ring is a bit rich to put it mildly. The truth is we don’t know how bad the temptations are for these men to spend like crazy because well we’ve never had the kind of money that we can spend like crazy, not the way these guys have had that kind of money.
Again, this isn’t to accuse Floyd Mayweather of anything. In fact, for all I know, the watch fiasco is a one off. Like everyone else I’ve heard stories, but I have no proof or any solid information that Mayweather is going broke. Aside from his financial issues stemming from a check bouncing on an expensive watch I know as much about Mayweather’s finances as anyone else. I’ll probably never earn the kind of money he did though… that’s almost guaranteed. And chances are it’s probably almost guaranteed that’s how it will be with you as well.
Mayweather has long received criticism he deserved, but there’s no doubt the guy made something of himself in enormous fashion. That’s something that needs to be recognized, too.
